TB_11

I'll agree with this post except: - Aramis I like. I honestly thought he would slow down his 2nd half tear, and he has to some degree, but he might still slug .550. - Pierre and Jones I'm indifferent to. They're basically performing at the level they should have been expected to. - Hendry deserves to be mentioned at 1 or 1A in any list of dislikes of this current Cubs team. Anyone who is upset at Pierre or Jones should first be upset that Hendry decided that they would be valuable additions to this team.

It's September, which means it's time to predict the playoffs. AL NYY Detroit Oakland White Sox (WC) NL NYM St. Louis LA Philadelphia (WC) NYY over White Sox Detroit over Oakland Detroit over NYY NYM over St. Louis LA over Philadelphia NYM over LA NYM over Detroit

He was also good enough to throw 29 interceptions last year. If he repeats that performance and still can account for 5 wins, he really is more than human.

Sure seemed like it to me. Could he be displaying the status of his health to the Cubs and other teams?

I don't want him. I like what we have at WR right now with Moose, Berrian, Bradley, Davis, Gage. If they want to go after Deion Branch, that's a different story. I wanted Lelie and I think we could've had him. I want this team to go after good WRs, not other people's trash. The pass game is the glaring weakness of this team, unless they give Benson more than 10 carries/game, in which case the whole offense will be terrible. Rogers isn't the answer, we need a serious #1 receiver (Moose is a good #2) and Rex to step up right away, or Greise to step in and be average at the least.

This has been the most disturbing thread ever.

Zambrano would be a good choice for a no-hitter, but walks too many batter to get a perfect game. Given that Pedro can't throw more than 7 innings anymore, I'd say Santana would have the best chance of throwing a perfect game.

That series was hands-down the most exciting regular season series I've ever watched. - Game 1, Cubs lose 13-11 even though they make an 8th and 9th inning push. Sammy hits 59. - Game 2, Cubs win 15-12 thanks to an RBI single from Tyler Houston and a walk-off HR from Orlando freaking Merced. Sammy hits 60. - Game 3, Cubs win 11-10 in extra innings thanks to a walkoff HR from Mark Grace. Sammy hits 61 and 62. The late-season additions of Gary Gaetti and GlenAllen deserve special mention. The Karchner for Garland trade on the other hand we probably want back.

My favorite part of that box score: And if that isn't impressive enough, here was Sutter's line that year: 122.7 IP 1.54 ERA 226 ERA+ 1.08 WHIP

I'd also like to say that Hafner should get extra votes because he has the best nickname of all contenders. Pronk.

Morneau has Mauer to cancel out some votes.

Im going to go out on a limb and say, the Twins will win the world series if Liriano comes back, and pitches the way he did before he went on the DL. I don't think that's going out on a limb.

As it stands now, Jeter will most likely win the award due to a) the Yankees making the playoffs, b) the extreme amount of national attention placed on him and c) the struggles of A-Rod make Jeter look better by comparison. Pronk and Manny should all get more serious consideration though, IMO.

Basically would we want to be like the Marlins team that won the WS in the 90s, or continue to be the Cubs? I'd take this organization buying a ring, no questions asked.

If you platoon Murton, he won't get the PAs against righties he needs to be a productive non-platoon player.

Addition by subtraction - I love it. In Hendry's skewed world he probably sees this as the 21st century equivalent of Smoltz/Alexander trade. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Whew! Thanks for clearly that up. For a minute, I thought Hendry was making a move to drag Sadaharu Oh out of retirement by signing him to a 3Y/15M contract. That honestly made me laugh out loud.

For those who didn't see it..... 3) Hollandsworth faceplants into the wall 2) Gary Matthews Jr barehands the ball after it pops out of his glove 1) Rick Monday saves Old Glory from two protestors who ran onto the field and were about to set fire to it Can't argue with #1.

I don't know what can be shown to say that Barrett can or can't handle a pitching staff. Too much has happened since 2003 to attribute the decline in pitching performance to having Barrett behind the plate instead of Miller. The only reasons where moving Barrett makes sense is if 1) we get a solid offensive catcher to replace Blanco, but I don't see Mauer or Martinez falling to us anytime soon or 2) injuries become a concern, and we think he'll be able to play significantly more games at a different position. The Cubs should at least consider the second reason.

I think at this point fans should start thinking about Prior like they should think about Wood: Hope that he regains his earlier form, but don't expect it.

The fact that Dusty has gone from being 20-80 against to 50-50 in terms of being offered another contract is more proof that this team has no plan whatsoever. On the flip side: Great article as always Bruce - keep up the great work!

The management deserves some criticism for Corey, but Nomar's case for Comeback Player rests on the fact that he was injured for most of last year; he hit relatively well once he came back from his torn groin. Borowski is the same case as Nomar - he had rotator cuff problems in 2004 and a broken arm in 2005 that severly limited his effectiveness.

I just stumbled upon this article at THT about pitch counts. Some of the conclusions: And later, this hypothesis is considered:

An argument used by those who don't believe in limiting pitch counts of starters is often "They didn't limit pitch counts or innings pitched in the old days and everyone was fine." And the numbers back the reasoning up, somewhat: In the period after WWII and before the strike, the league leader in innings pitched would often log 275-350 IP or more, compared to the ~250 IP since. What's the reasoning for why we should be limiting pitchers innings now, and why they didn't have to previously? Is it pitchers are throwing more pitches per inning these days, due to the recent offensive explosion? Is it they tend to throw more growing up and in the minors, so the arm is taxed more by the time they reach the majors? Did pitchers previously pitch through pain with negative long-term effects that are now just coming to light? Was it only a select few who could last through 300 IP before? Do "newer" pitches like the split-finger put more stress on the arm when repeatedly thrown? Other reasons? Link for list of leaders in IP year-by-year

Isn't Wayne Gretzky's #99 retired by the entire NHL? I thought it was a bit weird that they did that just years after the MLB retired Jackie Robinson's #42.

Did you see it live when it happened? If not, I can undersatand why I doesn't effect you as it does many of us. You truly had to be there and understand the context. No one got runs off Eck that year - he was impossible to hit. The Dodgers were decided underdogs who beat the Mets in the NLCS with smoke and mirrors and for the most part without Gibson, who strained his hammy sliding into second. The rest of their lineup was unimpressive - guys like Marshall, Sax, Mike Davis, Sosccia (sp?), Alfredo Griffin, John Shelby, Jeff Hamilton, etc. If you look at their team hitting stats they are far worse than the 06' Cubs. As for pitchging, besides Orel and his season for the ages, it was Leary and Belcher pitching way over their heads, and a great bullpen lead by Howell, Pena and Orosco. On paper, they had no business even being in the WS, nevermind standing up to the A's with The Juice...I mean Bash Brothers and a solid staff of veteran starters, plus Eck, the MVP and Cy Young winner. When he hobbled up and there and feebly fouled off a couple of picthes I recall thinking that this would be over fairly quickly. Then he reached out over the plate and took what looked like a desperation "make some contact" swing. When the ball took off it looked like a routine fly...but then Canseco kept on drfiting back. At first I thought he was settling under the ball deep in RF, but it never stopped going. It was nothing short of amazing. Completely agree with this post. Gibson's HR was the most exciting non-Cubs baseball moment I've ever seen (with Puckett's and Morris's heroics in 1991 ranking a close second). Eck was moving into his unhittable years; Gibson, who became the heart of that team after coming from Detroit, looked lost in that at-bat until he connected; and everyone thought that the A's would make quick work of the Dodgers. Jack Buck's classic line was icing on the cake.